Investors Chronicle Reviews 53

The IC has helped me make important decisions, from choosing Isa platforms and pension contributions, to how to invest my inheritance and what to do when I moved abroad. I can always find timely insight and analysis online, and I trust the writers to explain what everything means.

The IC is an indispensable tool in my investment journey, from how to get into investing, to investment strategies and small caps to look out for...

The IC has helped me start my investing journey. Enabling me to be smarter with my choices and give me confidence with my decisions.

Not impressed with Simon Thompsons review of Amedeus Airforce Plus. So what drives an article telling folk to sell a week before it goes EX dividend. How was this article motivated, as it was not on the back of news and operates steady/solid income streams although word on the street was a large investor was offloading) and he wanted it to look like his followers were offloading). I am sure he would argue that we are always OK with a Buy recommendation and I am a very experienced investor, but unless he has some advanced disclosure the rest of the market does not, the timing here was either poor and I certainly hope some didn't gain over others. Some have the opinion a big holder is offloading and he got wind and wanted to look good in front of the small fry or cover it!

Fine magazine but when the print doesn’t turn up for 3 weeks they don’t care because you have paid.

Its one of these journals that ropes you into a 12 week period of trial subscription. Although its clear that the subs will renew automatically after this time there is no reminder and no response to emails. Eventually after this period had ended I managed to cancel by phone. Be careful. The journal content is helpful.

Its coverage is biased towards fossil fuels. Fossil fuels and renewables both are subsidised, but the IC only ever mentions subsidies to renewables and always glosses over subsidies to fossil fuels. That's fine if you’re a right-wing newspaper, but it’s disappointing to find party politics distorting the investment lens of a so-called investors' chronicle.

After many years of subscribing to the paper edition they have taken an extra 30% by Direct Debit without prior notice in contravention of the DD guarantee.After one phone call and three emails to them they seem to be making it deliberately difficult to get a refund. This is very disappointing from a publication owned by the Financial Times.

I have subscribed for the IC for years - just the print copy. Often it doesn't arrive til the week after the cover date: but hey ho, I can tolerate that. But now they are "giving" subscribers digital and raising the subscription. Well that's OK even I don't want or need digital. What I object to is being compelled to pay by direct debit - and more especially when the form requires one to sign up for a debit to a bank account and not a credit card account, with an automatic renewal.
Much as I enjoy the IC ,that's it. I will not be pushed into signing a direct debit from a bank account.

As an aged investor (finance background), thinking of binning our financial advisor, I am looking for alternative information sources – information risk is one of my pet themes!

Investors Chronicle seemed like a good idea, emphasis on investors! However am disappointed as there is nothing on OEICS, found little on allocation, or risk. Furthermore when I wrote to the editor (twice), asking if she/they intended to cover these aspects, her reply was that the periodical is intended for those that trade directly – ie the emphasis is really on traders rather than looking for longer term investment.

So have to say disappointed, the emphasis is too narrow, the focus is short term, with in my view, a greater tolerance to risk

Update: I have decided to cancel.

I've been a subscriber for 4 years. Subscription has now increased( Aug 24) since last quater by nearly 25%. They also keep trying to promote Alpha subscription but very little incentive/offer that I can see makes me want to try Alpha! Seriously considering canceling subscription.

I have been a subscriber for over 15 years and I think it is a excellent publication. My ambition is to become an ISA millionaire and, thanks mainly to IC, that is a real possibility. I cannot believe how bad most of the other reviews are and thought that I would add mine in the interest of balance.

They force you to call to cancel. The only reason a company does this is in 2024 is to make it deliberately make it hard to for you to cancel in the hope you don't get around to it. In other words, they deliberately provide poor customer service.

After several years receiving the online, paper and Alpha, I've cancelled my subscription. The products aren't the problem, it's trying to get a receipt every quarter that's the issue! Why you have to contact them every quarter to request a copy of the receipt is beyond me. But then they say they'll request a copy and it never arrives, not even to the SPAM/Junk folder. At £87 a quarter I expect much better.

Do my eyes deceive me??? On 8th January 2024 Simon Thompson wrote a piece on Highcroft Investments with the following title:

"This high-yielding REIT is delisting – investors should exploit this opportunity"

Does this man really think it is a good idea to buy the shares of a company that is effectively about to disappear from public view, lost to an obscure and illiquid listing on TISE, where regulatory protections for private investors are diminished???

I'd sooner take share tips from a parrot with cocaine addiction.

RESPONSE TO INVESTORS CHRONICLE'S REPLY: I am more than dissatisfied with Simon Thompson's piece - I am disgusted. That he would encourage minority private investors to buy the shares of a company that is delisting is a disgrace. The delisting serves to marginalise private investors given the lesser regulatory protections on the TISE exchange, and the fact there will be no way to trade the stock via popular share dealing platforms. It is appalling, in my opinion, and you should review whether his opinions are in the interests of your readership.

I have recently restarted my subscription, a triumph of hope over experience, and did a search on a small company I know I had read an article on recently. The search returned 1173 items of which hardly any related to the company concerned and did not include the article I was looking for. Why is the search facility so useless?

People should be aware that changing email address is not possible for an investors chronicle account. So if you use the portfolio tracking tool and change your email then you will have to re-enter holdings into a new account and all your transaction history will be lost. This is not the case on other tracking tools that I have used and totally unsatisfactory and amateurish.

Trying to subscribe all weekend , takes you all the way through, you spend ages inputting required data including direct debit info for it then to pop up with , this financial Times site is currently down we expect it to be back up soon....
Doesn't bode well !!!

Very basic mistakes in content.
Do not comply with direct debit guarantee i.e. do not give 10 working days notice of subscription price increase.
When requesting cancellation from renewal date access denied immediately!

This is a magazine owned by the FT with whom I have a current subscription but it makes offers by email of 12 weeks for 12 pounds then when you click this offer it disappears